The Carrie Diaries Episode 1 “Pilot”

The new CW series The Carrie Diaries episode 1 premieres Monday January 14 2013 at 8pm on The CW.

Episode Synopsis: IN THIS “SEX AND THE CITY” PREQUEL, A YOUNG CARRIE BRADSHAW DEALS WITH HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA WHILE MEETING MANHATTAN FOR THE FIRST TIME — Recently, life hasn’t been smooth sailing for 16-year-old Carrie Bradshaw (AnnaSophia Robb) – her mother just passed away, her rebellious younger sister Dorritt (Stefania Owen) is acting out, and their father Tom (Matt Letscher) is struggling to raise two teenage daughters alone.

As Carrie begins the first day of her junior year, she can’t help but feel as though all eyes are on her, and a pity party from rival Donna LaDonna (Chloe Bridges) doesn’t help the situation. Even when surrounded by her group of friends, Mouse (Ellen Wong), Maggie (Katie Findlay) and Walt (Brenden Dooling), Carrie feels as though her life should be heading in a different direction. The arrival of new guy Sebastian Kydd (Austin Butler) brings Carrie some excitement, but it isn’t until she accepts an internship at a Manhattan law firm that things begin to fall into place. In the city, Carrie meets Larissa Loughlin (Freema Agyman), a free-spirited, outgoing style editor at Interview magazine, who introduces her to a world she’s only dreamt of. Miguel Arteta directed the episode written by executive producer Amy B. Harris

Show Summary: Before she was a fashion icon, before her column in the New York Star, before Mr. Big, Carrie Bradshaw was an innocent 16-year-old girl living in suburban Connecticut. The year is 1984, and Carrie’s mother has just passed away over the summer, which means Carrie has to grow up fast. Her younger sister Dorrit is more rebellious than ever, and their father Tom is overwhelmed with the responsibility of suddenly having to care for two teenage girls on his own. Carrie’s friends – sweet, geeky Mouse; sarcastic and self-assured Maggie, and sensitive Walt – make life bearable, but a suburban life in Connecticut isn’t doing much to take her mind off her troubles. Even though the arrival of a sexy new transfer student named Sebastian brings some excitement to Carrie’s world, she is struggling to move on from her grief. So when Tom offers Carrie the chance to intern at a law firm in Manhattan, she leaps at the chance.
The energy of New York City turns out to be exactly what Carrie needs, and her eyes are opened wide at the glamour and grit all around her. When she meets Larissa, the style editor for Interview magazine, she’s thrilled and inspired by the avant-garde club culture, performance art and amazing individuals that make up Larissa’s world. Larissa becomes an instant role model, and her influence gives Carrie a new perspective on every relationship in her life.
While Carrie is experiencing new things, her friends are facing their own challenges. Carrie’s friends Maggie and Walt have been a couple for two years, and though Maggie is more than willing to take the next step, Walt keeps putting off sex while he struggles with his own identity. It’s hard for Carrie because she loves them both, and what she doesn’t know is that Maggie is hiding a secret – her affair with an older man. Adding to the drama surrounding first sexual encounters, everyone in the group is surprised when studious, reserved, over-achieving Mouse suddenly confesses that she and her Princeton-student boyfriend had sex – and that he’s been avoiding her ever since. Though she’s trying to be there for her friends, Carrie has her own new romance with Sebastian to think about. Beneath his cool, bad-boy exterior, Sebastian has known his share of hurt. He reveals to Carrie that his own mother recently left the family, so he understands the sense of loss that comes with losing a mother. Unfortunately for Carrie, Sebastian’s good looks also catch the attention of the most popular – and most experienced – girl at school, Donna LaDonna, who immediately sets out to challenge Carrie for Sebastian’s affections.
On the home front, Carrie and her sister Dorrit are still clashing as they come to grips with their mother’s passing in different ways. Dorrit’s pain – along with the fact that she is 14 – leads her to rebel against all authority figures, while Carrie is doing her best to keep up the illusion that everything is fine.
Carrie’s next challenge will involve the internship that has opened up this new world to her. The job at the law office means nothing to her, but being in the city means everything, and she will soon have to decide whether to defy her father, leave the law office and take the first step toward a writing career. For young Carrie Bradshaw, friends and family will always have a big place in her heart, but she’s suddenly seeing everything in a brand new light, thanks to the most important man in her life – Manhattan.
The series stars AnnaSophia Robb (“Soul Surfer”) as Carrie Bradshaw, Austin Butler (“Switched at Birth,” “Life Unexpected”) as Sebastian Kydd, Ellen Wong (“Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “Combat Hospital”) as Mouse; Katie Findlay (“The Killing,” “SGU Stargate Universe”) as Maggie Landers, Stefania Owen (“Running Wilde,” “The Lovely Bones”) as Dorrit Bradshaw, Brendan Dooling (“An Elf’s Story: The Elf on the Shelf”) as Walt Reynolds, Chloe Bridges (“90210”) as Donna LaDonna, Freema Agyeman (“Doctor Who,” “Law & Order: UK”) as Larissa Loughton and Matt Letscher (“Brothers & Sisters,” “Entourage”) as Tom Bradshaw.